


Homesickness

by waterbird13



Series: Tumblr Fics [217]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adjusting, Gen, Homesickness, Sam's RA, Stanford Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 19:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8114383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waterbird13/pseuds/waterbird13
Summary: She thinks Sam's homesick.She supposes he is, but not in the way she can tell him to call home and focus on making new friends.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is a piece from Tumblr.
> 
> Stanford era, An OC RA's POV, homesickness and being kicked out as themes.

At first, she thinks the kid is homesick. Besides partying too hard with their new-found freedom, homesickness is the most common issue a freshmen RA will confront. They’re trained to watch for it, to help the kids cope with it.

Sam meets some of the signs. He’s withdrawn, doesn’t socialize much, doesn’t seem to be connecting with school culture like most of the others are. It’s a good a guess as any.

So she sets up to “accidentally” meet Sam over lunch. He doesn’t seem like the type of person who would respond well to being called into her room for some sort of formal meeting, so she gives up her lunch. Never let it be said she doesn’t give her all to her students.

“Hey, Sam,” she says, smiling and setting her plate down on the table across from him, like this is some great, lucky coincidence.

Sam looks up from a history textbook. “Hey, he says. He even smiles at her, all bright, with dimples, and she thinks for a moment that, if this kid tried, he’d be incredibly popular. That smile alone can move mountains. “Wanna sit?”

She’s already in the process of doing so, so she nods and sits opposite him. “Tell me how school’s going,” she starts with.

So he does, giving her a brief synopsis of his classes, finishing with how much he likes it here.

“What about back home?” she asks. “Where are you from?”

He shrugs. “All over? We moved a lot.”

“What was that like?” she asks. She would think a kid used to moving would have an easier time adapting to college. Maybe it’s true what they say, though–home is the people, not a place. Being away from his family must be hard for Sam.

“Pain in the ass,” Sam says. “You should’a seen my transcript–I bet Stanford didn’t believe it when they got it. Lots of shitty motels and rundown rentals, switching schools every few weeks. On the road a lot.”

Well, she’d guessed that Sam came from some sort of poverty situation when he’d shown up at school with one duffel, one backpack, and two shopping bags from Walmart, and the traveling thing seems to tie into that narrative nicely. Maybe it’s not just homesickness, then. The average kid at Stanford has money coming out of their ears, or at least a lot more than Sam does, and maybe it’s all making Sam uncomfortable.

Maybe the other students are _making_  Sam uncomfortable. She hasn’t seen anyone say or do anything, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.

“You going to…wherever your family is now for Thanksgiving?” she asks.

Sam’s lip quirks up, but it’s definitely not the same smile as earlier. “I don’t even know where they are,” he says. “They…don’t want to see me anymore. Me leaving…well, they don’t want me anymore. So, I’m out.”

Well, that hurts to hear. She’s told herself again and again not to get personally involved with these kids, but Sam is tugging at her heartstrings. 

“Oh,” she says. Then, “we do a Thanksgiving here. Mostly for international students, or people who don’t go home for…whatever reason. You’re more than welcome to come.”

Sam fiddles with his fork. “Thanks,” he says. “I–yeah. Thanks.”

The kid’s homesick, but it’s not some normal thing, not where she can encourage him to call his mom and make new friends. Also, he’s never lived anywhere for very long before, probably has no idea how to interact with other people long-term.

Still. The problem might be more complicated than it originally looked, but overall nothing’s changed that much. “And we’re doing a movie night on Thursday,” she says. “I wanna see you there, Sam.”

He looks at her for a long moment. “I–okay.”

She smiles. “You’d be surprised, Sam. College’ll be even better, if you do more than just classes.” she picks up her still mostly full plate. “Well, I’ll let you get back to your studying. Have a good rest of the day, Sam.”

He nods, clearly kind of stunned, as she leaves. As soon as he can’t see her anymore, she breaks into a smile.

Well, that’s one crisis dealt with, anyways.


End file.
